


The Lucky Shard

by Sugar_and_Salt



Series: Exo Fairytales~ [4]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, alternative universe, fairytale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-07-19 15:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7367386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugar_and_Salt/pseuds/Sugar_and_Salt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a forgotten church of an equally forgotten city lives the Lucky Shard, who knows the secret to true happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lucky Shard

**Author's Note:**

> Another super old piece of mine - I revised a lot, which was tiring but also made me see my development as a writer~ I actually wrote this with a word limit and a random set of keywords - church, bee, wind chimes.  
> It was actually a lot of fun, so I hope you'll also have fun reading it~  
> Love,  
> Sugar_and_Salt

  
It was a chilly morning, with a sky colored in pale rose colors and a thin coat of mist covering the quiet buildings.  
Every step he took echoed widely on the completely deserted square. Even though the possibility of getting caught was ridiculously slim, the figure was hiding his face beneath a hood as he made his way towards the east gate of the city. He didn't carry any luggage, for he didn't intend to travel far.  
Soon the impressively old metal gate towered before him, one wing slightly ajar. Behind it one could make out a path, marked by a sea of crushed rocks, glittering in the morning dew. It was unceremoniously leading up a small hill to a huge, majestic church that threw it's shadows down the hill.  
For a second, he hesitated. Then he slid past the gate, without touching it.  
As if this action would redeem his decision in any way.

Nowadays, all people lived in the capital city, far away at the seaside. They were craving the trade, the luxury, the safety. The place had become their capital, there was no life left outside of it. The former cities became small towns, became villages, became nothing.  
Masses of empty buildings were all that was left, giving shelter to the very few people staying behind. Once, a traveler came and told them the government had given up on them. "Lost cities" was what they called them. And as the decades passed, the number of travelers decreased. People built their own lives, in their little cut-off world.  
Luhan had not always lived in this place.  
He came from an even smaller town - not in terms of age or size, oh no. But when his old grandmother died, leaving him the only one left and vulnerable to the wolves strolling around in the early morning hours, he decided to move on to the nearest city. Not that the people there cared. They didn't actually care about the world outside their town a lot, anyway.  
Still, they all had their own stories and tales to tell. And in between the hushed whispers and eager chit-chat between elders, Luhan caught on to a lot of stories and rumors. And no one could miss out on the city's most infamous tale - the tale of the lucky shard, or the shard of luck, occasionally called the city's mad charm. He had many names, ranging from mystic to plain insulting, depending on who told the story.

As the huge stone building seemed to get bigger with every slow step he took, the tiny stones made awfully loud scrunching noises beneath his shoes. He pulled back the hood to take a deep breath of crisp morning air, patting his chestnut-brown hair down a little.  
The lucky shard.  
Up in the old church there was said to live a young man, barely passing as an adult.  
All alone he resided in the massive building, rarely stepping a foot outside. There were many guesses on what he might look like and even more rumors. Besides his age, nothing was known about him though.  
Well, besides the fact that he was mad. Insane. Out of his mind.  
On some days, he would throw things against the walls, sending ear-piercing noises down into the city, making people shiver with uneasiness. Madness could just as well be contagious, and the conservative citizens preferred to stay far away from him, treating him like the city's' shameful little secret.  
Even so, there was a saying; If you went up to the church and met him, he would tell the visitor a secret. And not just any secret, but the secret to the person's happiness.  
Sometimes, it would happen. Once in a while, people couldn't resist the temptation, desperate with their own lives and clinging onto hope - even if it meant associating with the lucky shard. Stealthily, they would slip away when no one noticed and upon their return, they were never the same as before.  
It wasn't necessarily an instant change, but still noticeable enough. Even so, or because of that, people looked down on those people, whispering about getting infected with his madness, the words 'witchcraft' and 'curse' hanging heavily in the air.  
Even though they were happy, it couldn't have come without a price.  
Surely they had paid with a part of their soul.  
Still, no one ever talked about what he experienced.  
And now Luhan stood before the building, looking up at the intricately detailed stone frames and decorations. The massive wooden door was also ajar.  
As if inviting unsuspecting people, tempting them even further to just take the final step to seal their fate.  
And exactly this step he took.

Carefully he pushed the door open and tilted his head to take a look in-  
"Why hello there!"  
Someone had jumped right into his vision, sending him tumbling back in shock.  
The boy only laughed heartily at his dumbfounded face, inching even closer and tilting his head like a curious animal.  
"What's shocking you? I guess you should expect the owner of a house being home at an ungodly hour like this!"  
Perplexed, Luhan tried to inch back a little, too startled to reply.  
Not knowing what to expect exactly, Luhan wouldn't have thought the stranger to be so handsome. Or rather, so beautiful. Slightly tousled, honey-colored hair was framing a youthful face, gifted with porcelain-white skin and unusually bright eyes, slightly framed with a dark shade of red, giving him an overall exotic and foreign appearance. He had a cheeky, boyish vibe to him, too.  
The boy broke into an eye-crinkling smile and opened the door properly to invite him in.  
"There, there, little deer, don't you stand there all frozen... you came here because you wanna come in, don't you? After you." he chirped brightly. For another second Luhan just stared, before he opened his mouth for the first time.  
"W-why are you calling me a deer?"  
"Because you look like a deer, my dear," he sing-songed dumbly, the smile never leaving his face, "now you better decide whether you wanna come in or not, since I'm a busy person!"  
Hesitating for the blink of an eye only, Luhan pushed himself off the door frame to step into the church with the quirky boy closing the door and skipping after him.  
Luhan had been to a church before, in his home city. He could still recognize the interior as one of a church - there were large windows with stained glass, throwing already some colorful shadows across the polished stone floor, though he immediately noticed some windows were broken. There were some impressive stone statues and wooden benches, though most of them had been moved around, creating the base for the huge mess the boy had caused. In the middle of the hall lay a huge pile of random things, mostly smashed pieces of glasses, mirrors, but also books and jewelry, pictures and even some knives with silver blades, blinking in the colorful lights.  
"You can look and you can also touch, though I wouldn't advise you to," the cheery voice behind him voiced out as he stepped next to Luhan, bouncing on the balls of his feet restlessly, "you could hurt yourself."  
"So that's why they call you lucky shard." Luhan observed, his eyes still wandering over the pile of trash.  
"Really now? Last time I checked it was something around the lines of 'mad medium' - That's what I call a development. Though 'mad medium' also had a certain ring to it. Oh well," he happily stated, nodding to himself, "ah, excuse my lack of mannerism..." He twirled around and began to tug Luhan along, "Let me offer you some tea. It's early. Surely you haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Awkwardly, Luhan blinked up from the breakfast spread out between them as the boy munched on a piece of bread, seemingly unfazed. He didn't actually know where to start, though. Not with the food, but rather the actual reason he was there.  
Suddenly, the bright eyes met his and with his mouth half-stuffed with fruits, the shorter boy grinned at him.  
"I know, I know... you're here for actual advise," he began when his mouth was more or less empty, "don't let this stop you from eating though. It's an essential key to your happiness!" he concluded with a wink and reached for another piece of cut apple. Luhan's eyes fell down onto his folded hands.  
"So... you know."  
He giggled.  
"Course I do."  
This guy was indeed kind of weird. Something about him seemed off. He was far too lighthearted for this surroundings, for this city, for this whole life. Either way, Luhan found it impossible to imagine him trashing things. Unconsciously, he wondered whether he might be dangerous. After a moment of inner debating, he asked the first question that came to his mind.  
"So... What's your name?"  
At this, he received a confused blink.  
"Didn't you just tell me?"  
"No, as in... your **name** , you know?" he emphasized. Again, he received a puzzled look.  
"Okay. Nevermind, then." Luhan slowly dismissed, a little confused over his behavior.  
"I heard you help people with... with finding happiness. So I was wondering," he began, absentmindedly accepting the strawberry he got offered, but making no move to eat it, "I was wondering about the price of an... 'advise' of yours."  
The boy halted his assault on the food and eyed him, tilting his head from side to side in a scrutinizing manner, as if waging his price in that very moment.  
"Mh... if it's you, a cute deer like you... how about the soul of your first-born child?" he proposed, licking his lips in search of leftover fruit juice.  
"W-What?!"  
"Ahaha, I'm kidding! You should see your face. Hilarious!" he laughed, his attention already beginning to seep back to the food.  
Luhan wanted to strangle him, but since his skin looked so soft he deemed it a waste.  
"Since you just gave me a face as priceless as that, lemme return the favor. I'll do it for free, how does that sound?" he said, smiling brightly up at him.  
How could everything about him be so bright, Luhan wondered.  
"Really? Are you serious?"  
"Puh-lease, look at me - do I look like a liar to you?" he asked in a mock-dramatic voice. Well, no. He didn't. But what he **did** look like, Luhan didn't know either.

Finally, he shoved aside the plates and made himself a little more comfortable, giving Luhan his undivided attention.  
"So tell me - what makes you unhappy?"  
Luhan blinked. Actually...  
"I... I don't know."  
He received a questioning look in response.  
"You don't know." he repeated.  
"I... No. No, I don't."  
"Are you depressed about something? Your job, your girlfriend, your family?"  
"No, and no, I have no such people."  
"Are you lonely, then?"  
Luhan genuinely thought about it.  
"Hm... I don't think I am."  
"So... do you dislike yourself?" he asked in a straight-forward manner.  
A little flustered, Luhan averted his eyes for a second, before meeting the bright orbs again.  
"I don't know. Maybe I do. Yes. I guess there's a problem with me."  
"And why would you think that?"  
"Well, because I'm not happy."  
"So you should be happy?"  
" _Shouldn't I_?"  
The boy looked at him with a slightly surprised look, before looking thoughtful.  
"Well, that was actually kinda deep." he murmured, before clapping his hands together once, startling Luhan.  
"I like you! You're an interesting fellow. Let's go about it like this: tomorrow you'll bring me one object you feel especially negative towards."  
"What do you mean by that?" Luhan asked, as he was shoved outside by surprisingly strong arms.  
"That's yours to figure out my dear."  
As Luhan made his way back, the boy called after him once more.  
"Byun Baekhyun's the name, by the way~!"

The next day, the shorter one didn't startle Luhan. Instead he found him sitting in the middle of the huge pile of stuff, singing his heart out. Bedazzled, he didn't dare to interrupt the beautiful serenade.  
Only when the last tone faded into the huge hall, did Baekhyun look up at him.  
"You came back, deer-boy!" he noticed cheerfully, jumping up.  
"I'm not a deer. My name's Luhan."  
"Luhan. Lu-han. Lu-...lu." he echoed, experimenting with the name on his tongue. Then he looked up at him with big eyes.  
"So, Lulu, did you bring the object?"  
Hesitating, Luhan shuffled his feet a little.  
"Actually... there's no object I feel negative towards. It's me. So I only brought myself."  
At this, Baekhyun laughed loudly, patting Luhan's shoulder.  
"You actually **are** funny! Ah, what to do with you."  
At this, Luhan lightly blushed in embarrassment.  
Baekhyun began to explain as he distractedly looked this way and that.  
"Let me explain. You know, it's not even aaall that magical. I just have this special knack for shedding light onto memories. People tend to treat pain badly. They just lock it up or shoo it away, and then they end up here-"  
"I don't understand."  
Baekhyun thought about it as an idea lit up his face.  
"...imagine a bee. You know bees, right? It is said, that when a bee loses its sting, it dies. The sting remains, but the bee is dead. If you forget about the sting, now wouldn't you deny the bee's purpose, maybe even its existence?"  
Luhan nodded slowly.  
"So... what you're saying is that I can't be happy without being aware of pain."  
"Exactly! A lot of people receive thousands of stings, pull them out and throw them away. They forget about where the old scars came from and move on. Just to find themselves wondering at one point, what they even did with their lives. So they come to me. And I let them bring the object they deem the center of their troubles. I usually smash it and give out a remaining piece, as a strong reminder. So whenever they touch it, they'd feel it. In return, I'd keep a piece of their pain to myself. They all get happier gradually, as they- oh my god, do you hear that?" he suddenly interrupted, "the wind's picking up! Hurry, hurry!", he exclaimed, tugging the unresistant and perplex Luhan after him.  
They tumbled up the stone stairs, and Luhan just stared in awe.  
"It's... it's beautiful." he whispered.  
Hanging from the now low ceiling was a sea of objects, lightly moving in the wind. There was an area full of folded papers making rustling sounds, the dull sounds of metal and plastic... and an ocean of glass shards. Stained shards, mirror fragments, window glass. There was simply no end to them. And as the wind picked up, so did the noises.  
Baekhyun walked towards them, facing the frozen Luhan.  
"Those are all the objects I got in return. All the things that absorbed negative feelings. I'd rather not add you to my collection though."  
Then he turned around to walk in between the objects.  
"Can you hear their stories, Luhan?"  
And as the wind howled through the broken windows, he actually could.  
It was a beautiful melody rushing over him. The chiming of broken promises, the ringing of negative results, of life itself.  
And in the middle of it was Baekhyun, dancing in circles to touch the strings and objects.  
So if you knew pain, you could also know happiness. And seeing as Baekhyun knew of all the pain, he was the happiest of them all at the same time.  
It was crazy, in a way.  
The way he swirled around, starting to sing along to the tinkling of glass.  
"Luhan, look! I cut myself!", he suddenly called out, holding up a finger, the tip showing a minuscule cut from one of the glass shards. He was laughing as he said it.  
Maybe it was utter madness.  
But Luhan laughed along as he went to join him.  
 


End file.
